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He might not be a consensus top 10 player yet but New York point guard Boogie Fland looks like a terrific fit for Kentucky coach John Calipari after committing to the Wildcats Friday.
247Sports has Fland as the No. 33 player overall in his class and 20th in its composite ranking. Rivals has him as the 10th best player in the class and had offers from Kansas, Connecticut and North Carolina before picking UK over Indiana and Alabama.
But what makes him so important to Calipari and UK is that he’s either the top-ranked point guard or No. 2 point guard in his class and someone Calipari had targeted to help jump start the 2024 recruiting class. ESPN has the 6-3 guard No. 18 overall in its 100 for 2024.
He joins big man Somto Cyril (55th in the ESPN 100) in UK’s 2024 recruiting class. Kentucky is still targeting Jayden Quaintance (14), Karter Knox (16), Pat Ngongba (19) and Billy Richmond (34) and has been involved recently with V.J. Edgecombe (5).
He told ESPN his UK visit hosted by freshman DJ Wagner “played a big part” in his decision to become the 15th five-star point guard to join Calipari during his tenure at Kentucky. Wagner and Fland played USA Basketball together. He won a gold medal with USA Basketball at the FIBA U17 World Championships in 2022 and shot 39 percent from 3-point range. He was an 82 percent shooter at the foul line in EYBL play last summer.
Fland liked Calipari being a “Hall of Fame coach on the court and a funny guy” off the court.
“He is a great kid,” Archbishop Stepinac coach Pat Massaroni said. “It has all clicked in over the last couple of months. He is laser-focused. He loves the gym and the work.”
Fland rattled off Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Devin Booker, Jamal Murray, De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk as former UK guards who impressed him.
The big stage should not bother the New York high school star since NBA all-stars Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony both wished him well on his commitment video.
